Tranferring to Blogspot
Hi all,
I’ve finally decided to transfer to Blogger. If you wish to continue viewing this blog, please go to http://joefury.blogspot.com
cheers!
Filed under: Uncategorized | 1 Comment
Fire hazards from China
This Christmas, beware of buying really cheap electrical devices from China. Specifically power extension strips and
Christmas lights. These flimsy devices were the cause of numerous fires last Christmas season.
You’ll find them mostly in tiangges (flea markets) and bargain stores. Just to be safe, invest in reputable brands and do take time to inspect the workmanship. With the case of power extension cords, if they make even a faint rattling sound when you shake them, don’t buy them. Invest in that looks robust and has a fuse or surge protector.
And for heavens sake, don’t leave them on or plugged into the electrical outlet for long periods of time (overnight for example) I’ve seen a few power cords spontaneously explode before my eyes because they were left plugged in for a long time.
Filed under: Consumer Electronics | Leave a Comment
PhilamCare Nightmare
A few months ago I had this extremely irritating experience with my healthcare provider that is one for the books. If you’re wondering why the philippine insurance industry is a joke, here’s why.
I was convinced that the purchase of insurance products is a painless way of securing mine and my family’s future. With this in mind, I proceeded to purchase various insurance products from PhilAm that would address key needs in my lifetime plan.
- Personal Accident/Life Insurance and Endowment for myself
- Personal Accident/Life Insurance and Retirement plan for my wife
- Pre-need Plan for College education for my daughter
- Healthcare Plans for my wife and daughter
- Healthcare plans for my entire company
My own healthcare needs were covered under the healthcare plans I purchased for my company and its employees. All of the above plans also provided for my financial security if I contracted any illness or disability hampering my ability to work for a living. The bottom line though was that I was totally secure!
Recently, I consulted my doctor (a high school buddy and the country’s foremost expert on medical sleep disorders) regarding the possibility of sleep apnea. Upon initial physical examination, there were unmistakable signs that I had obstructive tissue in my throat that would case apnea. Add to this the fact that I had extreme snoring which often drives my wife at night to sleep in my daughter’s room.
My doctor however asked me to go through a sleep diagnsotic test at the Medical City sleep lab where you spend the night while diagnostic equipment measures your vitals and oxygen levels. This would roughly cost me P20,000. Whoa! This is exactly what my health care plan is for. So I called my insurance agent to make arrangements.
I got a call back from my agent saying that my existing plan, which I got for my company, did not allow for me to consult my own doctor. This was what they called a point-of-service option that I just didn’t have. What I needed to do was to go to a PhilamCare clinic and consult their own doctors for proper apnea diagnosis. Naturally I scoffed at that suggestion since my doctor is the foremost expert in the field and my high school buddy to boot. As suggested by my agent, the best thing to do was to upgrade my plan to allow point-of-service. So I did. I also instructed my COO to do the same for the senior managers of the company so they don’t have to go through this.
After upgrading the plan, I asked my agent to re-process the claim for my sleep diagnosis. He returns to me and tells me that Philam care now says I needed to have an exam at Medical City with a PhilAm care accredited doctor. Apparently, Philam policies have all these requirements to make sure I’m not faking my claim. Huh?! This is where I start to get really annoyed. I cited that I had already purchased three policies from them and enrolled my company for Philam healthcare service. In fact, I had so many VIP plan holder cards from them! And yet I’m suspected of fraudulent claims! I sent my agent back to them to make it right.
Here’s the clincher. I finally get a letter of authority back from them. Covering me for the sleep diagnosis procedure but not beyond P5,000. Punyeta! This was totally unacceptable! I exploded and balled out my agent. How can they do this? I mentioned again all the policies I owned. I started threatening to pull out my company from the healthcare plan. I asked him why I had to go through all this trouble just to get covered for P5,000. Unbelievable! I wanted names and I wanted answers. He promised to go back to Philam Care with all my ‘concerns’. Finally, he came back with another letter of authority that covered me for all medical expenses required by the diagnosis.
Here are my thoughts. If I was made to go through that hell, I was wondering about thousands of other healthcare plan holders that get screwed unless they put their foot down.
Now how about the other policies I own? If I die, will my beneficiaries go through the same eye of the needle to receive what’s rightfully due them?
Filed under: Service Industry | 3 Comments
the guardian 